Method for discerning false from genuine

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method for discerning false from genuine. The method increases the difficulty of imitation by means of using the intrinsic stochastic structural vein of the material itself as identification. According to the method, it is advisable to select the material with clear stochastic structural vein as marker, and to select the stochastic structural vein of the marker as identification information, the information is recorded by scanner and then is stored into the database of the computer identification system. Consumers may obtain relevant information of structural vein by telephone, fax or computer on line to testify whether a product is genuine or a counterfeit.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an anti-counterfeiting technique,particularly, relates to a method which may discern the counterfeitingor passing off products from genuine by checking the vein identificationinformation borne by the products

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Chinese utility model, No.95203425.5, entitled “CipherIdentification for Anti-counterfeits” and filed on Feb. 7 of 1995,disclosed a mark for identifying counterfeiting products. The markcomprises a carrier bearing anti-counterfeiting information, the numbersand the cipher codes printed on the carrier, and a removable coveringlayer. The numbers and the codes are stored in the database of acomputer identification system which may provide code informationservice to the consumers. Thus the consumers can testify whether thespecific product he purchased is a counterfeit or not by simply dialingthe codes printed on the product into the database. In such a manner,the ordinary work for discriminating counterfeits is simplified into atelephone inquiry. This patented technique is adopted in ananti-counterfeiting project called “Countrywide Telephone-codeAnti-counterfeiting Systematic Engineering”, which is launched andspread by the China Anti-counterfeiting Association. It is found in thepractice, however, some counterfeiting products makers make the passingoff products bearing the forged numbers and the forged codes throughreceiving the used numbers and codes carries or copying the used carriesillegally.

The Chinese patent 92109558.9, entitled “A Cipher Trade-mark forAnti-counterfeiting”, and filed on Aug. 16 of 1992, disclosed a labelbearing drop-points distributed at random and bearing severalobservation lines divided into several pieces at random. Thepiece-number of lines on each label is different from that of others.The proprietor of the trademark may input a formula into the computerand obtain the specific number of the points matching with the lines foreach label. The specific number and a disclosure date are then printedon the relevant label. The proprietor, on the specific date, willdisclose the specific numbers to the publics. The products bearingincorrect numbers are the counterfeiting ones. Such a manner isinconvenient for consumers for the following reasons: firstly theconsumers have to wait until the specific date printed on the labels;secondly the consumers have to look for the relevant media bearing thespecific numbers or ask the proprietor for the number after describingthe complex printed content on the label, such as strokes and radicalsof Chinese characters, piece-number of reference lines, operationalsymbols, results and so on (The printed content is so complex that it isdifficult to identify but easy to forge.); and thirdly, since therelations among those strokes, radicals, piece-number of referencelines, operational symbols and results are kept confidential until thespecific date and the result is obtained only after the relations aredisclosed together with correct number, the consumers therefore can notquickly calculate and obtain the result and directly judge whether theobtained result is correct or not. In addition, such a label is easy tobe forged for the following reasons: firstly a certain number points ata certain piece of the line may have numerous locations, it is easy tobe imitated due to the locations of the points unaccurate; secondly, thecounterfeits maker may obtain the code and make the counterfeitsaccording to the code at the time when consumers obtain the same fromthe media; thirdly, the points adhere on surfaces of labels rather thancombine with labels as a whole, so the points are easy to imitate bypatching manually or by printing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the present invention is to provide a convenientanti-counterfeiting method, by means of the method, whether a purchasedproduct is a counterfeiting one can be testified from the informationprovided by the database of the computer identification system simply bydialing the codes into said computer identification system; and thecharacter of the stochastic structural vein in the material of thecharacter of stochastic structural vein of the marker material itself isused to judge whether a product is counterfeiting.

The objective of the present invention is realized as follows:

The products are coded, each one has at least one printed codes whichare different from those of other products, the anti-counterfeitinginformation of the carrier is set on product. The information is stored,together with the codes, into the database of computer identificationsystem that has been connected with telephone network or internet, thesystem provides the consumers with the anti-counterfeiting informationat inquiry by the consumers. Said carrier on the product and is made ofsuch materials that have clear, visible, stochastic structural vein.Said information is the image of stochastic structural vein on carrier.

It is advisable that the image of stochastic structural vein on carriermay be recorded by means of a digital scanner or a digital video camera,and the digital image is stored, together with the codes into thedatabase of computer identification system that has been connected withtelephone network or internet The consumers can obtain the image by faxor computer on line and compare the stochastic structural vein oncarrier of the products with the image, so as to testify whether theproducts are counterfeits or not.

It is further advisable that some regions are selected as checkpoints ofstochastic structural vein, and certain marks are set or printed asreferences to locate checkpoints; the location of each checkpointrelative to the reference is expressed by location code; the charactersof the stochastic structural vein are expressed by codes, samecharacters of stochastic structural vein are expressed by same codes andthe different characters of stochastic structural vein are expressed bythe different codes; the information including locations of checkpointsand characters of structural vein are stored into the database ofcomputer identification system which is connected with telephonenetwork, wherein, the information is either in form of digital codesmade up of the location codes of checkpoints and character codes ofstructural vein, or in form of phonic files describing locations ofcheckpoints and characters of structural vein. The consumers may inquirevia a telephone to obtain the information of locations of checkpointsand characters of structural vein provided by the phonic files, so as totestify whether the products are counterfeiting ones or not.

It is further advisable that the digital codes directly representing thelocations of the checkpoints and the characters of structural vein maybe printed on the carriers. In addition, the explanation or illustrationdescribing the relation between the digital codes and the locations ofcheckpoints and the relation between the digital codes and the characterof structural vein may be printed on the carriers.

It is further advisable that the stochastic structural vein is notprinted one but an intrinsic structure of the material of the carrieritself, so as to increase the difficulty of imitation.

It is further advisable that some natural materials with clearstochastic structural vein or apparent natural spots, such as woodblock, stone, leaves of plant and shells etc. may be selected to makethe carries, so as to increase the difficulty of imitation.

It is further advisable that paper, plastic sheet or multiplex sheetadded with colored fibers or pieces may be selected as the materials ofthe carriers, in order to form clear stochastic structural vein todistinguish the material from the ordinary printed vein. Such carriersare difficult for imitation.

It is further advisable that plastic, glass, ceramics or compoundmaterial added with dye, impurities, irregular-shaped granules or airbubbles at random during the course of production may be selected asmaterials of the carriers in order to form clear stochastic structuralvein, so as to increase the difficulty of imitation.

It is further advisable that the materials having three-dimensionedintrinsic structural vein may be selected as the materials of thecarriers, so as to distinguish the vein from the printed vein. Thecarrier made of three-dimensioned material is difficult for imitation,as three-dimensioned material has multiple surfaces with more complexstructural vein. It is more difficult to imitate such materials ascylindrical material, hemispheric material, prism-shaped material,quadrate material, pyramidal material, cambered material or slightlytransparent material, only by plane printing apparatus.

It is better to whole cover or partly cover the codes in order toprevent from too many unnecessary telephone inquiries.

For the products adopting this invention, it is possible to select somepart of the product as the carrier, and make the packaging and carrieras a whole.

The structural vein of the present invention is the intrinsic structuralcharacter of the material of carriers itself and may have various forms,such as spots, stripes, impurities, regions with differentlight-reflectivity, regions with different light-transparence, regionswith rough surface, flaws, scars, bubbles, with or without filling andso on.

In order to locate checkpoints and structural vein, it is possible toprint or set some marks as reference on the carrier. The reference maybe various forms, such as coordinate, tabulation, ruler, alphabet,number, character, word, arrow, circle, pane, pentagon, animal pattern,sideline of marker, diagonal of marker, etc. It is better to mark thelocation of checkpoints as accurate as possible, so as to increase thedifficulty of imitation.

In order to record, store and locate checkpoints, it is possible to marklocation codes of checkpoints on or beside the checkpoints, for example,to mark the coordinated location codes.

In order that consumers can measure the size of the carrier and thereference conveniently, the length of the carrier and the reference maybe selected as a certain length of integral times as long as, forexample, one eighth or one sixth of the length or width of a certainbank note (one Yuan Chinese currency note as an example), so thatconsumers can use the note as a tool to compare the marker with bills athand.

In order that consumers can make communication with the computeridentification system conveniently, it is better to print the telephonenumber, fax number, or web address of the database of the computeridentification system on the carriers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention is further described by embodiments inaccompanying with drawings. The embodiments of the invention are used tobetter explain this invention rather than limit to this invention.

FIG. 1 is a top view of an anti-counterfeiting marker according to thisinvention showing the structural vein anti counterfeiting method of theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of another anti-counterfeiting marker according tothis invention showing the structural vein anti counterfeiting method ofthe invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a system in which the method of theinvention is implemented.

THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a top view of an anti-counterfeiting marker according to thisinvention showing the structural vein anti counterfeiting method of theinvention. The anti-counterfeiting marker is made up of a specially madepaper which, during the course of production, is mixed with some fibersand wood crumb so that the clear fibrous and wood-crumb structural vein2 can be seen. It is obvious that colored paper pieces, colored woodcrumb, mica crumb and so on may be added also. The specially made paperis selected as the material of the carrier 3, a coordinate systemcomprising a vertical axis Y and a horizontal axis X as reference 6 isprinted on the carrier 3 and besides the reference 6 at least one code 1is printed which is different from the code 1 of any other reference 6.The coordinated location codes 5 are selected, in this embodiment, thecheckpoints 7 are selected in sixteen regions whose selected coordinatedlocation codes 5 (x .y) are (1.1), (1.2), (1.3), (1.4), (2.1), (2.2),(2.3), (2.4), (3.1), (3.2), (3.3), (3.4), (4.1), (4.2), (4.3), (4.4).Symbol 1′ is used to represent fibrous structural vein, symbol 2′ isused to represent wood-crumb structural vein, and symbol 0′ is used torepresent vacant structure (without structural vein). Thus, it ispossible to use following digital codes 8 to represent the locations ofthe mentioned sixteen checkpoints 7 and the characters of theirstructural vein: (1.1)0′, (1.2)0′, (1.3)0′, (1.4)1′, (2.1)2′, (2.2)0′,(2.3)2′, (2.4)0′ (3.1)0′, (3.2)1′, (3.3)0′, (3.4)0′, (4.1)2′, (4.2)2′,(4.3)0′, (4.4)2′. In order to simplify the digital codes 8, digitalcompression is adopted. For instance, the digital codes 8 in sequencecan be expressed as 0′0′0′1′ 2′0′2′0′ 0′1′0′0′ 2′2′0′2′. The digitalcodes 8 representing the locations of checkpoints 7 and the charactersof their structural vein are called herein as compound codes of locationand structural vein. Finally, the digital codes 8 (compound codes) ofeach marker are stored, in the file name codes 1, into the specificdatabase 31 of the computer identification system 30 connected at 34with telephone network 32, then each marker is stuck to a product thatneeds protection (a bottle of wine, as an example). The consumers may,at 35, dial codes 1 into the specific database 31 of the computeridentification system 30 by telephone 36, and will hear such informationof both locations of the checkpoints 7 and the characters of thestructural vein as: “If the product you are inquiring has such markerthat fibers in regions (1.4) and (3.2), and wood crumb in regions (2.1),(2.3), (4.1), (4.2) and (4.4), and there is nothing in the rest regions,the product is a genuine, or otherwise a counterfeit.” The consumers mayhear such computer phonetic information about the compound codes whendialing in the compound codes as: “The product you are inquiring has thecorrect compound codes of location and the structural vein. If theproduct you are inquiring has the checkpoints in same locations and samestructural vein as the compound codes shown, it is a genuine, orotherwise a counterfeit.” Besides, if the compound codes are incorrect,the computer phonetic information will tell you: “The product you areinquiring has incorrect codes, so it is x counterfeit.”

FIG. 2 is a top view of another anti-counterfeiting marker according tothis invention showing the structural vein anti counterfeiting method ofthe invention. The anti-counterfeiting marker is made of naturalsurface-polished granite stone. The stone is selected as the material ofthe carrier 3. The marker is square shaped with side length of 63 mm(which equals to the width of one Yuan Chinese bank note) and thicknessof 10 mm and is basically white with clear black structural vein 2(natural spots) in it. Each marker is printed with at least a series ofcodes 1 which are different from the ones of any other marker andreference coordinate 6. The codes 1 are partly covered with coveringlayer 4. The structural vein 2 on the carrier 3 is recorded by acomputerized scanner or a digital camera 38. The recorded image isstored, in the file name of codes 1, into the database 31 of thecomputer identification system 30 that is able to send fax automaticallyand has been connected at 34 with telephone network 36 and internet 37.Finally, these natural granite stones are stuck into the products thatneed protection (an engine of an automobile, for example). The consumersmay dial codes 1 into the database of the computer identification systemvia fax or computer 37 on line so as to obtain the image information ofstructural vein 2 to find out whether a products is a genuine or acounterfeit.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The merits of the present invention lie in:

1. It is difficult to imitate. The structural vein 2 utilized by thisinvention is an intrinsic structural character of either naturalmaterial or man-made stochastic-formed three-dimensioned material,rather than surface character that can be forged by printing. Since thelocations of checkpoints 7 and the characters of the structural vein ofcheckpoints 7 are defined, and the digital codes 8 representing thestructural character information of the checkpoints 7 are accurate, itis difficult to forge such intrinsic structural vein by patchingmanually or by printing.

2. It is easy to identify. As long as a consumer inputs the codes 1 intothe database of the computer identification system via fax or computeron line to obtain a fax image showing the structural vein 2 of themarker, and then compare the image with the structural vein 2 of theproduct, the product is judged a genuine or a counterfeit at once. Aconsumer may also dial codes 1 into the database of computeridentification system by telephone to obtain the phonetic informationabout structural vein 2 of checkpoints 7, and then compare theinformation of the structural vein 2 obtained with the vein 2 of theproduct to find out whether the product is a genuine or a counterfeit.As is known to all, man-made wood pattern or marble pattern istwo-dimensioned surface-printed vein. After the material is cut off,there is no vein inside the material. Therefore, it is easy to recognizeprinted vein.

3. It overcomes drawbacks of the prior art. Since the information of thecodes 1 in the database corresponds to the characters of the structuralvein 2 of the product, it is difficult to make imitation by reclaimingthe used codes, or by repeatedly copying or printing same codes. Thedigital codes 8 which directly represent the location codes 5 of thecheckpoints 7 and the characters of the structural vein 2, and theexplanation of illustration of the relation between digital codes 8 andboth of the locations of the checkpoints 7 and the character ofstructural vein 2 are printed on carrier 3, such information may bedisclosed to the public as a criterion. In addition, the computeridentification system database is adopted. The above stated features ofthe method of this invention help for achieving an automatic, simple,convenient, quick and accurate inquiry on whether a product purchased isa genuine or a counterfeit.

The above stated embodiments are just for better explaining to thisinvention. The person skilled in the art may improve the embodimentsand/or make alternatives within the gist of the specification anddrawings of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A product marking and identifying method,comprising the steps of: assigning, for each product in a series ofproducts, a unique code (1) to said product; applying a carrier (3) ofinformation to the product and selecting information on said carrier(3); storing the information as well as said code (1) into a database ofa computer system; connecting the computer system to a telephone orcomputer network; and providing a consumer, upon receiving an inquiryfrom the customer, with the information to allow the customer to verifywhether the product is genuine or counterfeit, wherein the carrier (3)is made of a material having unique, visually recognizable stochasticstructural veins (2), an image of which is selected and stored as theinformation.
 2. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprisingrecording said image, which is a digital image, by a scanner or a videocamera.
 3. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising thefollowing steps: a. selecting some regions on said carrier (3) ascheckpoints (7) of the stochastic structural veins (2); and b. settingor printing reference marks (6) on said carrier to locate thecheckpoints (7).
 4. A method in accordance with claim 3, furthercomprising the following steps: c. using location codes (5) to representlocations of the checkpoints (7) relative to reference marks (6); d.storing data representing the locations of the checkpoints (7) andcharacters of the stochastic structural veins in the database as saidinformation.
 5. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein saidstochastic structural veins (2) are intrinsic stochastic structuralveins (2) of the material of the carrier (3).
 6. A method in accordancewith claim 5, wherein said intrinsic stochastic structural veins (2) arethree-dimensional.
 7. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein saidmaterial is a natural material with naturally occurring said stochasticstructural veins (2).
 8. A method in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid carrier (3) is made of a plastic-coated paper sheet or othercompound material which has embedded therein colored fibers and paperpieces to make said stochastic structural veins (2).
 9. A method inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said carrier (3) is made of oneselected from the group consisting of plastic, glass, ceramics orcompound material, which has embedded therein dye, impurities,irregular-shaped granules or air bubbles to make said stochasticstructural veins (2).
 10. A method in accordance with claim 1, whereinlengths of the carrier (3) and reference marks (6) are integral times aslong as one eighth or one sixth of the length or width of a specificbank note.
 11. A method in accordance with claim 4, wherein the datarepresenting the locations of the checkpoints (7) is marked at or besidesaid checkpoints (7).
 12. A method in accordance with claim 4, furthercomprising printing said data, which includes the location codes (5)representing the locations of the checkpoints (7) and digital codes (8)representing the characters of the stochastic structural veins, on saidcarrier (3).
 13. A method in accordance with claim 12, wherein said datais coded as follows: a. same digital codes represent same stochasticstructural veins (2), and different digital codes represent differentstochastic structural veins (2); b. the character the stochasticstructural veins (2) of each checkpoint (7) is expressed by therespective digital code; c. the location of each checkpoint (7) relativeto reference marks (6) is expressed by the respective location code (5);d. the digital codes (8) and location codes (5) are arranged insequence.
 14. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprisingprinting the telephone number, the fax number or the web address forcommunication with the database of the computer system on said carrier(3).
 15. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein said carrier is athree-dimensional body of a shape selected from the group consisting ofcylindrical shapes, hemispherical shapes, prismatic shapes, quadrateshapes, pyramidal shapes, and cambered shapes.
 16. A method inaccordance with claim 1, further comprising covering at least a part ofthe code to prevent said part from being visible.
 17. A method inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said providing step comprisestransmitting an audible signal to said customer, said audible signalcontaining descriptive information of said image.
 18. A method inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said providing step comprisestransmitting a visual signal to said customer, said visual signalcontaining said image.
 19. A method in accordance with claim 3, whereinsaid reference marks define a plurality of regions of said carrier, saidproviding step comprises returning to the customer a phoneticdescription of said stochastic structural veins in at least one of saidregions.
 20. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein said image isnot an image of the product.